Hair braider Isis Brantley and the Institute for Justice have filed a lawsuit against the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, charging it violated her due process rights under the 14th Amendment. A 2007 state law requires that those who teach hair barbering — and hair braiding — spend 2,250 hours in barber school, pass four exams and build a fully equipped barber college.

Tuesday, the Dallas woman made a federal case of it. Her lawyers filed suit in U.S. District Court in Austin against the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, charging it violated her due process rights under the 14th Amendment.

Brantley and her attorneys from the Institute for Justice of Arlington, Va., say Texas laws are being applied in an “arbitrary and irrational” way. They say that inhibits Brantley’s ability to grow her business as a hair-braiding teacher.

A 2007 state law requires those who teach barbering — and hair braiding — to spend 2,250 hours in barber school and pass four exams. Brantley also would have to convert her tiny salon into a fully equipped barber college with 10 student workstations with reclining chairs and at least five sinks, her attorneys said.

“I just want to make an honest living,” Brantley said at a news conference at her small salon at South Beckley Street.

Her attorney from the Austin office of the Institute for Justice said the state refuses to accept the instruction she provides as meeting the state’s 35 hours of instruction required to teach. He argues his client shouldn’t be required to build a barber school.

“The 14th Amendment at its core protects economic liberties,” said Arif Panju. “You cannot put restrictions that are so unreasonable and unconstitutional.”

The Institute for Justice has brought seven other suits on behalf of African-style hair braiders. The libertarian public interest law firm has won either in the courts or with states changing their laws, Panju said.

Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation spokeswoman Susan Stanford said the agency’s policy is not to comment on ongoing litigation.

Local following

Brantley has built her reputation with a website with videos and a natural hair parade in Oak Cliff that featured her client, singer Erykah Badu, as the grand marshal just a few weeks ago. Brantley wears her ebony hair in a large puff about the span of her shoulders, accented with shiny micro-braids draped over her forehead like a hair band.

Two years ago, Brantley was stopped at the Atlanta airport by a Transportation Security Administration officer who insisted on searching her hair for weapons.

In 1997, she was handcuffed and arrested for braiding hair without a license. Seven officers entered her business for the arrest. After her release, she had to pay a $600 fine. She continued to braid, risking more tussles with regulators, Panju said, calling it a brave stance.

In 2007, state law grandfathered Brantley as braiding was woven into barbering regulations. She got her hair-braiding license.

But she cannot teach braiding at her own business and certify students without meeting the other regulations of the barber instructor license.

To post a comment, log into your chosen social network and then add your comment below. Your comments are subject to our Terms of Service and the privacy policy and terms of service of your social network. If you do not want to comment with a social network, please consider writing a letter to the editor.